Students are freaking out a bit about their scores being so low. First off there is a mistake on the test, so they will get credit for one more question right than what shows up for them. More importantly they/we need to understand that this is a district assessment that was created by the math coordinators in Dearborn. Their goal is to create assessments that are “MSTEP-like”, meaning they are very rigorous. The hope is that if they see these types of questions all year, they will do better on the MSTEP in the spring. The problem is, their percentages are going to be lower than they are used to getting on tests. Getting 65% of an MSTEP test correct would get them in a very high bracket and they would be considered “advanced” most likely. A 65% on a normal grading scale, however, is obviously a “D” and most aren’t happy when they see a “D.” For this reason, I will be curving the results of the test, so that when I input their grades, it is converted to a grade that matches their performance on such a difficult test. I will share with them in class the new scale with the grades curved. You won’t be able to see them in the grade book until I switch over from the 1st card marking to the 2nd. I will do that after parent-teacher conferences.

Cheers

Mr. Suni